Marriage of Anna of Saxony and Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange

Tags

Anna of Saxony, Beilstein Castle, Christine van Dietz, Holy Roman Empire, Jan Rubens, Maurice of Saxony, Philip II of Spain, Willem of Orange

Anna of Saxony (December 23, 1544 — December 18, 1577) was the daughter and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes of Hesse, eldest daughter of Philipp I, Landgrave of Hesse. Maurice’s only son, Albrecht, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange.

Willem the Silent (April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584) was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) Willem was born at Dillenburg Castle in the County of Nassau-Dillenburg, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Count Wilhelm I of Nassau-Dillenburg and Juliana of Stolberg.

Anna’s wealth drew many suitors; before the proposal of the Prince of Orange in 1560, there were negotiations with the Swedish royal house. She accepted the suit of Willem I of Orange, and on June 2, 1561 the marriage contract was signed in Torgau. Anna’s dowry would be the large sum of 100,000 thalers. The wedding took place on August 24, 1561 in Leipzig. On September 1, 1561 William of Orange, along with his young wife, relocated to the Netherlands.

The marriage produced five children, of whom three survived to adulthood:

Anna (born and died Brussels, 31 October 1562).
Anna (Breda, 5 November 1563 – Franeker, 13 June 1588), married on 25 November 1587 to William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.
Maurice August Philip (Brussels, 8 December 1564 – Brussels, 3 March 1566).
Maurice (Dillenburg, 13 November 1567 – The Hague, 23 April 1625), later Prince of Orange and Governor of the Netherlands.
Emilia (Köln, 10 April 1569 – Geneva, 6 March 1629), married on 7 November 1597 to Manuel of Portugal.

Just a few months after the wedding, in 1562 difficulties arose between Anna and Willem. Anna received letters from her uncle meant for Willem stating he should work more towards pleasing her.

Both tried to end the rumours that they had an unhappy marriage. By 1565, it was well known in all the courts of the Holy Roman Empire and the Netherlands that the marriage was an unhappy one.

Her uncle August tried to save face by making claims that disputes arose due to his brother Ludwig antagonizing Willem. In 1566 Willem finally complained about the “contentious” nature of his wife to her Saxon uncle August and her Hessian uncle Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Cassel (1532–1592).

After the death of her first son Maurice in 1566, Anna fell into severe depression and suicidal thoughts for the first time. She also tried to drown her grief with excessive alcohol consumption.

In 1567 Willem had to flee due to his opposition to the Habsburg Netherlands, and went with his wife to Dillenburg, the German headquarters of the family. On November 14, 1567 she bore a son and named him Maurice again. At the baptism of January 1568 a message arrived for William in Burgundy 11–19 stating that on December 20, 1567 all his Dutch lands and possessions had been confiscated.

When Willem on August 15, 1568 went back to Brabant to continue his war against the Spaniards, Anna decided on October 20, 1568 although pregnant again, to leave Dillenburg with her court (probably 43 people), to escape the antipathies of his mother and to create a new home in Cologne.

Their two children, Anna and Maurice, had been taken by her mother-in-law to Braunfels due to the risk of disease. The next year, after a fierce battle with Willem’s mother, she was able to bring her children back to him. Her daughter Emilia was born on April 10, 1569 in Cologne.

On March 4, 1569 Anna met her husband in Mannheim. Willem’s campaign against the Duke of Alba had failed, and King Felipe II of Spain had forced him out. After this, he left the Holy Roman Empire and went to support the Huguenots in France in their faith struggles.

Since Willem could no longer provide for the family, Anna looked to other means of support. She considered either persuading the Duke of Alba returning their confiscated goods, or demanding payment from Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Cassel as specified in the contract of 12,000 guilders or the castles of Diez or Hadamar. This would have meant a severe financial burden to be borne for Nassau. Anna became a substantial risk to the family.

To enforce their claims, they purchased the services of the successful lawyer Jan Rubens in the end of January 1569, the father of the painter Peter Paul Rubens, who had left Antwerp because of his Calvinist faith in 1568, and found refuge in Cologne.

The case was begun in January 1570 at the Royal Brussels to take fiscal action for their confiscated goods in the Netherlands.

Affair

Anna desired to see her husband again and met with him in May 1570 in Butzbach to discuss financial matters as well as other important topics. In June 1570, Anna and Willem moved in together again in Siegen for a few weeks, where she had settled with her three children. It was there where she began an affair with her lawyer Jan Rubens.

During the Christmas holidays from December 24 to 26 1570 Willem visited his family there again. It was likely a harmonious time, because he persuaded Anna to visit him in January 1571 in Dillenburg, where she even was willing to forego, for the time, payments from her jointure. She was pregnant again, this time from her lover. Willem accused Anna of adultery at this point and made plans to separate from her.

Rubens was often with Anna because he was their counsellor, financial advisor and attorney, and thus was suspected of adultery with Anna between March 7 and 10, 1571. He was arrested outside the city of Siegen when he was on his way to see her.

Rubens was blackmailed for a suitable confession. Anna was put under pressure too: either they must confess themselves or Rubens would be executed.

Anna agreed on March 26, 1571 to plead guilty. OnAugust 22, 1571 Anna’s last child, Christine, was born. On the basis of the allegation, Willem of Orange didn’t recognize the child as his daughter. Christine received the name van Dietz. On December 14, 1571 Anna had to sign their consent to the final separation from her husband. In addition, Willem of Orange was not willing to pay maintenance for her.

Imprisonment and death

In September 1572 Anna decided to challenge the Imperial Court’s ruling for her financial rights. At this time her Hessian and Saxon relatives had already made plans to turn Beilstein castle into a prison, to hold her captive as an adulteress. On October 1, 1572, she was brought there with her youngest daughter Christine. Three years later, her daughter was taken from her.

In March of that year, although the divorce was not finalized, the first news appeared of an impending remarriage of Willem of Orange. His chosen wife was the former Abbess of Jouarre, Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, a daughter of Louis II of Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, and his first wife, Jacqueline de Longwy.

Outraged at this news, some of Anna’s relatives demanded the return of large wedding gifts despite her possible infidelity. Her Uncle August also demanded of Willem, whom he now called “Head of all the rogues and rebels ” claimed one of the counties of Nassau, Hadamar and Diez.

August of Saxony also insisted that the marriage of the prince was not legally ended yet, and thus he had no right to remarry or confiscate her property. Anna did not admit her adultery in court, and if she did, then she could have proven that the prince had broken his marriage agreement. He also ordered the immediate transfer of his niece from Nassau to Saxony.

When Anna learned in December 1575 of her upcoming transferral to Saxony, she attempted suicide. After a long stay in Zeitz, she was taken to Dresden in December 1576. There, the windows of her room were walled up and fitted with additional iron bars. At the door was a square hole in the top panel that provided a narrow grid, which was closed off outside. Through this hole food and drinks were served to her. At the door there was also another iron gate, virtually guaranteeing no chance of escape.

As of May 1577, Anna was continuously hemorrhaging. She died on December 18, 1577, shortly before her 33rd birthday. Her bones reportedly lie in the cathedral of Meissen near her ancestors in a nameless tomb.

April 1, 1204: Death of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Tags

Angevin Empire, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II of England, Louis VII of France, Pope Eugene III, The Third Crusade, William IX of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122 – 1 April 1204)

Eleanor (or Aliénor) was the oldest of three children of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and his wife, Aenor de Châtellerault, the daughter of Aimery I, Viscount of Châtellerault, and Dangereuse de l’Isle Bouchard, who was William IX’s longtime mistress as well as Eleanor’s maternal grandmother. Her parents’ marriage had been arranged by Dangereuse with her paternal grandfather William IX. Her father was renowned in early 12th-century Europe for having a glittering ducal court.

A romanticized portrait of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor’s year of birth is not known precisely: a late 13th-century genealogy of her family listing her as 13 years old in the spring of 1137 provides the best evidence that Eleanor was perhaps born as late as 1124.

On the other hand, some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of some lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanor’s fourteenth birthday in 1136. This, and her known age of 82 at her death make 1122 the most likely year of her birth.

Her parents almost certainly married in 1121. Her birthplace may have been Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-l’Autise, where her mother and brother died when Eleanor was 6 or 8.

As the heir of the House of Poitiers, rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn. She was also known to have led armies several times in her life and was a key leading figure of the unsuccessful Second Crusade.

She became Duchess of Aquitaine upon her father’s death in April 1137, and three months later she married Louis, son of her guardian King Louis VI of France. A few weeks later, Prince Louis became the French king, Louis VII of France.

King Louis VII of France

Eleanor and Louis had two daughters, Marie and Alix. As Queen of France, Eleanor participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon afterwards, she sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III.

Eventually, Louis agreed to an annulment, as 15 years of marriage had not produced a son. The marriage was annulled on March 21, 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate, custody was awarded to Louis, and Eleanor’s lands were restored to her.

As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to her third cousin Henry, Duke of Normandy. The couple married on Whitsun, May 18, 1152. In 1154 Henry became King Henry II of England and Eleanor became Queen of England as his Consort. Because of Jure uxoris (a Latin phrase meaning “by right of (his) wife”) Henry II became Duke of Aquitaine and ruler of all his wife’s lands. Joining these lands with England and Normandy to create the vast Angevin Empire.

King Henry II of England

Eleanor and Henry II had five sons and three daughters. However, Henry II and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting the revolt of their eldest son, Henry the Young King, against him.

Eleanor was not released until July 6, 1189, when her husband died and their third son ascended the throne as King Richard I the Lionheart.

As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade. She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, King John of England, Lord of Ireland.

Marriage and Divorce of Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden & Frederica of Baden. Part I.

Tags

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz., Frederica of Baden, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, Gustaf III of Sweden, King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg

Gustaf IV Adolf (November 1, 1778 – February 7, 1837) was King of Sweden from March 29, 1792 until March 29, 1809 when he was deposed in a coup. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.

Gustaf Adolf was born in Stockholm. He was the son of Gustaf III of Sweden by his wife queen Sophia Magdalena. His mother, Sophia Magdalena, was eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain, the youngest surviving daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Gustaf IV Adolf, King of Sweden

Gustaf IV Adolf married Frederica of Baden the daughter of Karl Ludwig of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the younger sister of Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna (formerly Princess Louise of Baden), spouse of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

The marriage had been arranged by Gustav IV Adolf himself, after he had refused to marry first Duchess Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Louise Charlotte was born Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, her father being Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her mother was Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg; her sister Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1784–1840) married King Christian VIII of Denmark.

He initially desired to marry Ebba Modée but she refused him.

Gustaf Adolf’s second choice for a Royal bride was the Russian Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, eldest daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and his second wife Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (renamed Maria Feodorovna after her wedding). The sex of the child disappointed her paternal grandmother, Empress Catherine II.

Gustaf Adolf rejected this choice because her proposed marriage contract would have allowed Alexandra to keep her Russian Orthodox faith.

Frederica of Baden was seen as a suitable choice: Russia could not officially disapprove a new bride after the Russian Grand Duchess had been refused if the bride was the sister-in-law of Grand Duke Alexander of Russia which indirectly preserved an alliance between Sweden and Russia.

Frederica of Baden

Additionally, Gustaf IV Adolf wanted a beautiful spouse and expected her to be so after having had a good impression of her sister during his visit to Russia the year prior. The king visited Erfurt to see her and her family himself in August 1797, the engagement was declared immediately after, and the first marriage ceremony conducted in October.

Frederica found it difficult to adapt to court etiquette and protocol and isolated herself with her courtiers. With the exception of her chief lady in waiting, countess Piper, the king had appointed girls in about the same age as herself to be her courtiers, such as Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull, Fredrika von Kaulbars and Emilie De Geer, with whom she reportedly played children’s games.

She was treated with kindness by her mother-in-law, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, who remembered how ill she herself had been treated by her own mother-in-law.

The relationship between Frederica and Gustav IV Adolf was initially not good. Both being inexperienced, they reportedly had difficulty in connecting sexually, which frustrated the king and caused him to behave with impatient displeasure and suspicion toward her, which worsened the problems because of the shyness of the introvert Frederica.

This attracted attention when the king had the queen’s favorite maid of honor, Anna Charlotta von Friesendorff, exiled from court for impertinence, which also worsened the conflict. The problems was however solved through the mediation of duchess Charlotte, and for the rest of her marriage, she was almost constantly pregnant.

Gustaf IV Adolf and Frederica

This did not benefit the marriage from her point of view, as they were not sexually compatible: the king, who had a strong sexual nature but disliked extramarital sex, was sometime delayed for hours after “having entered the queen’s bed chamber” in the morning, so much that the members of the royal council saw themselves obliged to interrupt and ask the king to “spare the queen’s health”, while Frederica complained in letters to her mother how it tired and exhausted her without giving fulfillment.

Frederica was shocked and intrigued by the sexually liberal Swedish court, and wrote to her mother that she was likely the only woman there who did not have at least three or four lovers, and that the royal duchess Charlotte were said to have both male and female lovers.

The relationship between the king and the queen improved after the birth of their first child in 1799, after which they lived an intimate and harmonious family life, in which they grew close through their mutual interest in their children. The king was reportedly protective toward her and guarded her sexual innocence.

March 29, 1792: Assassination of King Gustaf III of Sweden. March 29, 1809: Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed

Tags

Absolute Monarchy, Adolph Ribbing, Assassination, Carl Fredrik Pechlin., Carl Pontus Lilliehorn, Claes Fredrik Horn, coup d'état, Frederica of Baden, Gustaf III of Sweden, Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden, Jacob Johan Anckarström

Gustaf IV Adolf (November 1, 1778 – February 7, 1837) was King of Sweden from March 29, 1792 until March 29, 1809 when he was deposed in a coup. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland.

Gustaf Adolf was born in Stockholm. He was the son of Gustaf III of Sweden by his wife queen Sophia Magdalena. His mother, Sophia Magdalena, was eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain, the youngest surviving daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach.

Gustaf Adolf was under the tutelage of Hedvig Sofia von Rosen and her deputies Brita Ebba Celestina von Stauden and Maria Aurora Uggla until the age of four. He was then raised under the tutelage of his father and the liberal-minded Nils von Rosenstein.

Gustaf IV Adolf married Frederica of Baden the daughter of Karl Ludwig of Baden and Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the younger sister of Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna (formerly Princess Louise of Baden), spouse of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

Assassination of King Gustaf III

Gustav III’s war against Russia and his implementation of the Union and Security Act of 1789 helped increase hatred against the king which had been growing among the nobility ever since the coup d’état of 1772 in which Gustaf III assumed near absolute powers.

A conspiracy to have the king assassinated and reform the constitution was created within the nobility in the winter of 1791–92.

The assassination of the king was enacted at a masked ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm at midnight on March 16, 1792. Gustaf III had arrived earlier that evening to enjoy a dinner in the company of friends. During dinner, he received an anonymous letter that described a threat to his life (written by the colonel of the Life guards Carl Pontus Lilliehorn), but, as the king had received numerous threatening letters in the past, he chose to ignore it.

Among those involved were Jacob Johan Anckarström, Adolph Ribbing, Claes Fredrik Horn, Carl Pontus Lilliehorn and Carl Fredrik Pechlin. Anckarström was chosen to carry out the murder with pistols and knives.

To dare any possible assassins, the King went out into an open box facing the opera stage. And after roughly ten minutes he said “this would have been an opportunity to shoot. Come, let us go down. The ball seems to be merry and bright.” The King with Baron Hans Henrik von Essen by his right arm went around the theatre once and then into the foyer where they met Captain Carl Fredrik Pollet.

The King, von Essen and Pollet continued through a corridor leading from the foyer towards the opera stage where the dancing took place. On the stage several masked men – some witnesses talked of 20 or 30 men – made it impossible for the king to proceed. Due to the crowd, Pollet receded behind the King, who bent backwards to talk to Pollet.

Anckarström stood with Ribbing next to him at the entrance to the corridor holding a knife in his left hand and carrying one pistol in his left inner pocket and another pistol in his right back pocket.

They edged themselves behind the King, Anckarström took out the pistol from his left inner pocket and Ribbing or he pulled the trigger with the gun in Anckarström’s hand. (but there has also been evidence suggesting that Ribbing was the one who actually shot Gustaf III). Because of the King turning backwards the shot went in at an angle from the third lumbar vertebra towards the hip region.

The King twitched and said “aee” without falling. Anckarström then lost courage, dropped the pistol and knife and shouted fire. People from the King’s lifeguard stood some meters away. When they reached the King, they heard him say in French “Aï, je suis blessé” (Ouch, I am wounded).

The king was carried back to his quarters, and the exits of the Opera were sealed. Anckarström was arrested the following morning and immediately confessed to the murder, although he denied a conspiracy until informed that Horn and Ribbing had also been arrested and had confessed in full.

The king had not been shot dead; he was alive and continued to function as head of state. The coup was a failure in the short run. However, the wound became infected, and on March 29, the king finally died with these last words:

“I feel sleepy, a few moments’ rest would do me good”

Upon Gustaf III’s assassination, Gustaf Adolf succeeded to the throne at the age of 14, as King Gustaf IV Adolf under the regency of his uncle, Carl, duke of Södermanland.

Gustaf IV Adolf is deposed

Gustav Adolf IVs inept and erratic leadership in diplomacy and war precipitated his deposition through a conspiracy of army officers.

On March 7, 1809, lieutenant-colonel Georg Adlersparre, commander of a part of the so-called western army stationed in Värmland, triggered the Coup of 1809 by raising the flag of rebellion in Karlstad and starting to march upon Stockholm.

To prevent the King Gustaf IV Adolf from joining loyal troops in Scania, on March 13, 1809 seven of the conspirators led by Carl Johan Adlercreutz broke into the royal apartments in the palace, seized the king, and imprisoned him and his family in Gripsholm castle; the king’s uncle, Duke Carl, was thereupon persuaded to accept the leadership of a provisional government, which was proclaimed the same day; and a diet, hastily summoned, solemnly approved of the revolution.

On March 29 Gustaf IV Adolf, to save the crown for his son, voluntarily abdicated; but on May 10 the Riksdag of the Estates, dominated by the army, declared that not merely Gustaf Adolf but his whole family had forfeited the throne, perhaps an excuse to exclude his family from succession based on the rumours of his illegitimacy.

A more likely cause, however, is that the revolutionaries feared that Gustaf Adolf’s son, Crown Prince Gustaf, if he inherited the throne, would avenge his father’s deposition when he came of age.

On June 5, Gustaf IV Adolf’s uncle was proclaimed King Carl XIII of Sweden, after accepting a new liberal constitution, which was ratified by the diet the next day.

In December, Gustaf Adolf and his family were transported to Germany. In 1812, he divorced his wife. Following this he had several mistresses, among them Maria Schlegel, who gave him a son, Adolf Gustafsson.

In exile Gustaf used several titles, including Count Gottorp and Duke of Holstein-Eutin, and finally settled at St. Gallen in Switzerland where he lived in a small hotel in great loneliness and indigence, under the name of Colonel Gustafsson.

It was there that he suffered a stroke and died. He was buried in Moravia. At the suggestion of King Oscar II of Sweden his body was finally brought to Sweden and interred in Riddarholm Church.

February 1, 1328: Death of King Charles IV of France and Navarre

Tags

Blanche of Burgundy, Charles IV of France, Charles of Valois, Edward II of England, Jeanne d'Évreux, King of France and Navarre, Marie of Luxembourg, Philippe VI of France, Pope John XXII, Tour de Nesle Affair

Charles IV (June 18/19, 1294 – February 1, 1328), called the Fair in France and the Bald in Navarre, was King of France and King of Navarre (as Charles I) from 1322 to 1328. Charles IV was the last king of the direct line of the House of Capét,

Charles was the third son of Philippe IV and Joan I, Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne from 1274 until 1305; the daughter of King Henri I of Navarre and Blanche of Artois.

Charles IV-I, King of France and Navarre

By virtue of the birthright of his mother, Joan I of Navarre, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre. From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche and was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims.

Unlike Philippe IV and Philippe V, Charles IV is reputed to have been a relatively conservative, “strait-laced” king – he was “inclined to forms and stiff-necked in defence of his prerogatives”, while disinclined either to manipulate them to his own ends or achieve wider reform.

Beginning in 1323 Charles was confronted with a peasant revolt in Flanders, and in 1324 he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected Holy Roman Emperor.

As Duke of Guyenne, King Edward II of England was a vassal of Charles, but he was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a conflict known as the War of Saint-Sardos (1324). In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles and to pay a fine. In exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory.

Marriages

In 1308 Charles married his first wife, Blanche of Burgundy, the daughter of Count Otto IV of Burgundy and Countess Mahaut of Artois, she was led to a disastrous marriage by her mother’s ambition.

Eight years before her husband’s accession to the thrones, early in 1314, Blanche and her sisters-in-law Margaret of Burgundy, and her own sister, Joan of Burgundy were allegedly caught in an act of adultery in the Tour de Nesle Affair. Charles IV’s sister, and their sister-in-law, Isabella of France was a witness against them.

As were their cousin Blanche of Burgundy, Margaret and Joan of Burgundy were members of the ducal House of Burgundy, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Margaret and Joan were the daughters of Robért II, Duke of Burgundy (1248–1306) and Agnes of France (1260–1327), the youngest daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.

Margaret of Burgundy had married her first cousin once removed, Louis X, King of France and Navarre. Joan of Burgundy had married Philippe of Valois, Louis X’s cousin, in July 1313. From 1314 to 1328, they were count and countess of Maine; Philippe of Valois became Philippe VI of France in 1328.

Blanche was arrested and found guilty of adultery with a Norman knight. Margaret was imprisoned at Château Gaillard along with her sister-in-law Blanche of Burgundy. Joan of Burgundy was acquitted of the charge of adultery.

Blanche was imprisoned and not released even after becoming queen, until her marriage was annulled when she was moved to the coast of Normandy. After Charles assumed the throne he refused to release Blanche, their marriage was annulled, and Blanche retreated to a nunnery.

The date and place of her death are unknown; the mere fact that she died was simply mentioned on the occasion of her husband’s third marriage in April 1326.

Blanche had given birth to two children, Philippe and Joan, but both of them died young and Charles IV needed a son and heir to carry on the House of Capet.

On September 21, 1322 in either Paris or Provins Charles IV married Marie of Luxembourg, the daughter Heinrich VII, Holy Roman Emperor and Margaret of Brabant.

On May 15, 1323 Marie was consecrated Queen of France at Sainte-Chapelle by Guillaume de Melum, Archbishop of Sens. In the same year she became pregnant but she later miscarried a girl.

Whilst pregnant again in March 1324, Marie and Charles IV were travelling to Avignon to visit the pope when Marie fell out of the bottom of the coach. As a result, she went into labour and her child, a boy (Louis), was born prematurely, and died several hours later; Queen Marie died on March 26, 1324 and was buried at Montargis in the Dominican church.

Charles IV married again in 1325, this time to Jeanne d’Évreux: she was his first cousin, the daughter of Louis, Count of Évreux and Margaret of Artois. Since Jeanne was Charles’s first cousin, the couple required papal permission to marry, which they obtained from Pope John XXII.

They had three daughters, Jeanne, Marie and Blanche, who were unable to inherit the throne under principles of the Salic Law. The royal couple’s lack of sons caused the end of the direct line of the Capetian dynasty.

During half of his reign Charles IV relied heavily on his uncle, Charles of Valois, for advice and to undertake key military tasks.

Charles of Valois was a powerful magnate in his own right, a key advisor to Louis X, and he had made a bid for the regency in 1316, initially championing Louis X’s daughter Joan, before finally switching sides and backing Philippe V. Charles of Valois would have been aware that if Charles died without male heirs, he and his male heirs would have a good claim to the crown.

After the death of Charles of Valois, Charles became increasingly interested in a French intervention in Byzantium, taking the cross in 1326. Andronicus II responded by sending an envoy to Paris in 1327, proposing peace and discussions on ecclesiastical union.

A French envoy sent in return with Pope John XXII’s blessing later in the year, however, found Byzantium beset with civil war, and negotiations floundered. The death of Charles the next year prevented any French intervention in Byzantium.

Charles IV died on February 1, 1328 at the Château de Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, and is interred with his third wife, Jeanne d’Évreux, in Saint Denis Basilica, with his heart buried at the now-demolished church of the Couvent des Jacobins in Paris.

When Charles IV died without a male heir, the senior line of the House of Capet, descended from Philippe IV, became extinct. He was succeeded in Navarre by his niece Joan II and in France by his paternal first cousin Philippe of Valois.

However, the dispute on the succession to the French throne between the Valois monarchs descended in male line from Charles’s grandfather Philippe III of France, and the English monarchs descended from Charles’s sister Isabella, was a factor of the Hundred Years’ War.

December 16, 1485: Birth of Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England and Ireland

Tags

Anne Boleyn, Annulment, Arthur, Catherine of Aragon, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, House of Trastámara, Isabella of Castile, Mary I of England and Ireland, Papal Dispensation, Pope Clement VII, Prince of Wales

Catherine of Aragon (December 16, 1485 – January 7, 1536) was Queen of England and Ireland as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on June 11, 1509 until their annulment on May 23, 1533. She was previously Princess of Wales as the wife of Henry’s elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales.

Infanta Catherine was born at the Archbishop’s Palace of Alcalá de Henares near Madrid, on the early hours of December 16, 1485. She was the youngest surviving child of King Fernando II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Catherine was quite short in stature with long red hair, wide blue eyes, a round face, and a fair complexion. She was descended, on her maternal side, from the House of Lancaster, an English royal house; her great-grandmother Catherine of Lancaster, after whom she was named, and her great-great-grandmother Philippa of Lancaster were both daughters of John of Gaunt and granddaughters of Edward III of England. Consequently, she was a third cousin of her father-in-law, Henry VII of England, and fourth cousin of her mother-in-law Elizabeth of York.

Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England and Ireland

At an early age, Catherine was considered a suitable wife for Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the English throne, due to the English ancestry she inherited from her mother. By means of her mother, Catherine had a stronger legitimate claim to the English throne than King Henry VII himself through the first two wives of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster: Blanche of Lancaster and Constance of Castile.

In contrast, Henry VII was the descendant of Gaunt’s third marriage to Katherine Swynford, whose children were born out of wedlock and only legitimised after the death of Constance and the marriage of John to Katherine. The children of John and Katherine, while legitimised, were barred from inheriting the English throne, a stricture that was ignored in later generations.

Because of Henry’s descent through illegitimate children barred from succession to the English throne, the Tudor monarchy was not accepted by all European kingdoms. At the time, the House of Trastámara was the most prestigious in Europe, due to the rule of the Catholic Monarchs, so the alliance of Catherine and Arthur validated the House of Tudor in the eyes of European royalty and strengthened the Tudor claim to the English throne via Catherine of Aragon’s ancestry. It would have given a male heir an indisputable claim to the throne.

Catherine and Arthur and corresponded in Latin until Arthur turned fifteen, when it was decided that they were old enough to be married.

First they weremmarried by proxy on May 19, 1499 and in person o November 14, 1501, they were married at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral. A dowry of 200,000 ducats had been agreed, and half was paid shortly after the marriage.

Once married, Arthur was sent to Ludlow Castle on the borders of Wales to preside over the Council of Wales and the Marches, as was his duty as Prince of Wales, and his bride accompanied him. The couple stayed at Castle Lodge, Ludlow. A few months later, they both became ill, possibly with the sweating sickness, which was sweeping the area. Arthur died on April 2, 1502; 16-year-old Catherine recovered to find herself a widow.

At this point, Henry VII faced the challenge of avoiding the obligation to return her 200,000-ducat dowry, half of which he had not yet received, to her father, as required by her marriage contract should she return home. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in February 1503, King Henry VII initially considered marrying Catherine himself, but the opposition of her father and potential questions over the legitimacy of the couple’s issue ended the idea. To settle the matter, it was agreed that Catherine would marry Henry VII’s second son, Henry, Duke of York, who was five years younger than she was.

Infanta Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England and Ireland

Catherine held the position of ambassador of the Aragonese crown to England in 1507, the first known female ambassador in European history.

Marriage to Arthur’s brother depended on the Pope granting a dispensation because canon law forbade a man to marry his brother’s widow (Lev. 18:16). Catherine testified that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated as, also according to canon law, a marriage was dissoluble unless consummated.

Catherine’s second wedding took place on June 11, 1509, seven years after Prince Arthur’s death. She married Henry VIII, who had only just acceded to the throne, in a private ceremony in the church of the Observant Friars outside Greenwich Palace. She was 23 years of age.

For six months in 1513, Catherine served as regent of England while Henry VIII was in France. During that time the English crushed and defeated the Scottish at the Battle of Flodden, an event in which Catherine played an important part with an emotional speech about English courage.

By 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne.

Henry VIII sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England’s schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters.

In 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as supreme head of the Church in England and considered herself the king’s rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy. Despite this, Henry acknowledged her only as dowager princess of Wales.

After being banished from court by Henry, Catherine lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, dying there on January 7, 1536 of cancer. The English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning.

Catherine commissioned The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, and Vives dedicated the book, controversial at the time, to the Queen in 1523. Such was Catherine’s impression on people that even her enemy Thomas Cromwell said of her, “If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History.” She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day, for the sake of their families. Catherine also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor. She was a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More.

November 25, 1876: Birth of HRH Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess of Russia.

Tags

Alfred of Edinburgh, Emperor Alexander II of Russia, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duchess of Russia, Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine, Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich of Russia Russian Orthodox Christianity, King Edward VII of United Kingdom, Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria Melita of Edinburgh

Today, November 25th, is the 145th anniversary of the birth of HRH Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Grand Duchess of Russia. (November 25, 1876 – March 2, 1936) Victoria Melita was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and also of Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Born a British princess, Victoria spent her early life in England and lived for three years in Malta, where her father served in the Royal Navy. In 1889 the family moved to Coburg, where Victoria’s father became the reigning duke in 1893.

In her teens Victoria fell in love with her first cousin Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (the son of her mother’s brother, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia) but his faith, Rusian Orthodox Christianity, discouraged marriage between first cousins. Bowing to family pressure, Victoria married her paternal first cousin, Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in 1894, following the wishes of their grandmother, Queen Victoria.

The marriage failed – Victoria Melita scandalized the royal families of Europe when she divorced her husband in 1901. The couple’s only child, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, who they nicknamed Ella, died of typhoid fever in 1903 at the age of 8.

In 1905, Victoria married Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia. They wed without the formal approval of Britain’s King Edward VII (as the Royal Marriages Act 1772 would have required), and in defiance of Russia’s Emperor Nicholas II. In retaliation, the Emperor stripped Kirill of his offices and honours, also initially banishing the couple from Russia.

They had two daughters and settled in Paris before being allowed to visit Russia in 1909. In 1910 they moved to Russia, where Nicholas recognized Victoria Melita as Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna. After the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917 they escaped to Finland (then still part of the Russian Republic) where she gave birth to her only son, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia in August 1917.

In exile they lived for some years among her relatives in Germany, and from the late 1920s on an estate they bought in Saint-Briac in Brittany. In 1926 Kirill proclaimed himself Russian Emperor in Exile, and Victoria supported her husband’s claims. Victoria died after suffering a stroke while visiting her daughter Maria in Amorbach (Lower Franconia).

HIH Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

She is the grandmother of Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, claimant to the Russian Throne, and the great-grandmother of Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, claimant to the German Imperial Throne.

HI & RH Prince Georg Friedrich, The Prince of Prussia

Happy 73rd Birthday to HRH The Prince of Wales

Tags

Camilla Parker Bowles, Duke of Cambridge, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Susex, HRH The Prince of Wales, King Edward VII, King William IV, Lady Diana Spencer, Prince Charles, Prince Philip, Prince's Trust, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born November 14, 1948), is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles was born in Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, during the reign of his maternal grandfather King George VI, as the first child of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was baptised there by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on December 15, 1948.

The death of his grandfather and the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 made Charles the heir apparent. As the monarch’s eldest son, he automatically inherited the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Charles attended his mother’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.

Prince Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by his mother on July 26, 1958. His investiture was not held until July 1, 1969, when he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle.

The Prince of Wales is both the oldest and the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is the oldest Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales. He surpassed the record held by Edward VII on September 9, 2017. If he becomes monarch, he will be the oldest person to do so, the current record holder being King William IV, who was 64 when he became king in 1830. Upon the death of his father, Prince Philip, on April 9, 2021, Charles also inherited the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

The Prince of Wales took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970, and he made his maiden speech in June 1974, the first royal to speak from the floor since the future Edward VII in 1884. He spoke again in 1975. Charles began to take on more public duties, founding The Prince’s Trust in 1976, and travelling to the United States in 1981.

He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, both of which his father attended as a child. He later spent a year at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.

In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer, with whom he had two sons: William and Henry, the current Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Susex respectively.

In 1996, the couple divorced following well-publicised extramarital affairs by both parties. Diana died as the result of a car crash in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married his long-term partner Camilla Parker Bowles. Although legally she is the Princess of Wales out of respect for the late Diana, Princess of Wales she is known as the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Prince of Wales has five grandchildren. The children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The Children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are Archie and Lillibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

As the Prince of Wales, Charles undertakes official duties on behalf of the Queen. He founded The Prince’s Trust in 1976, sponsors The Prince’s Charities, and is a patron, president, or a member of over 400 other charities and organisations.

As a self-described environmentalist, Charles has spoken publicly about issues such as organic farming and climate change, which has earned him awards and recognition from environmental groups. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been the subject of criticism.

His views on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings have received significant attention from British architects and design critics. Since 1993, Charles has worked on the creation of Poundbury, an experimental new town based on his architectural tastes. He is also an author or co-author of a number of books.

October 14, 1872: Death of Prince Albrecht of Prussia

Tags

Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, German Emperor Wilhelm I, House of Orange-Nassau, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Morganatic Marriage, Prince Albert of Prussia, Prinz-Albrecht-Palais, Wilhelmstraße, Willem I of the Netherlands

Prince Friedrich Heinrich Albrecht of Prussia (October 4, 1809 – October 14, 1872) was the fifth son and youngest child of King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and she was the fourth daughter and sixth child of Duke Charles of Mecklenburg and his wife Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz’s father, Charles, was a brother of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of the United Kingdom, and her mother Frederike was a granddaughter of Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louise’s maternal grandmother, Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, and her paternal first-cousin Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom served as sponsors at her baptism; her second given name came from Princess Augusta Sophia.

At the time of her birth, Louise’s father was not yet the ruler of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (he would not succeed his brother as Duke until 1794), and consequently she was not born in a court, but rather in a less formal home.

Prince Albrecht’s parents fled to East Prussia after the occupation of Berlin by Napoleon, and Albrecht was born in Königsberg. Two of Albrecht’s elder brothers were Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia from 1840 till 1861, and Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from 1861 to 1888 and German Emperor from 1871 until 1888.

In 1819 Albrecht joined the Prussian Army as a lieutenant and held the rank of a general of cavalry in 1852. He took part in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War as a cavalry corps commander at the battles of Gitschin and Königgrätz. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 he led a cavalry division at the battles of Wissembourg, Wörth and Sedan.

Prince Albrecht later joined the forces of his nephew Prince Friedrich Charles of Prussia and Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the campaign against the Armée de la Loire.

After the war Albrecht was awarded the title of a Generaloberst. He died in Berlin, where he is buried at the Charlottenburg Palace Park Mausoleum. He was the 74th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword.

Family

In The Hague, on 14 September 1830 Albert married his cousin Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau the daughter of King Willem I of the Netherlands and Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia the fourth child of eight born to King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.

The marriage was dissolved on March 28, 1849. They had five children:

Charlotte (1831 – 1855), married the future Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.

A son (1832). He was either stillborn or lived only a few hours.

Albrecht (1837 – 1906), married Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, had 3 sons.

Elisabeth (August 27, 1840 – October 9, 1840).

Alexandrine (1842 – 1906), married Duke Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Princess Marianne was a woman who thought and lived very unconventionally for her time. Because she left her unfaithful husband Prince Albrecht of Prussia and had an illegitimate son (she openly recognized him) with her partner Johannes van Rossum (with whom she also lived in a common-law marriage), she was banished from the Kingdom of Prussia.

Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau

In Berlin on June 13, 1853, Albert married secondly, Rosalie Wilhelmine Johanna von Rauch, daughter of Gustav von Rauch, chief of the Prussian General Staff 1812-1813 and Prussian Minister of War 1837–1841. She was created Countess of Hohenau on May 28, 1853. They had two sons:

Georg Albrecht Wilhelm, Count of Hohenau (1854 – 1930). married to Princess Margarethe of Hohenlohe-Öhringen (1865-1940), daughter of Hugo zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen.

Bernhard Wilhelm Albrecht Frederick, Count of Hohenau (1857 – 1914).

As this second union was considered a morganatic marriage, the couple temporarily had to avoid the Prussian court. Albrecht acquired a vineyard in Loschwitz near Dresden, Saxony, where he had a residence, Albrechtsberg Castle, erected in 1854.

Aftermath

In 1830 Albrecht had acquired a city palace in Berlin on Wilhelmstraße, then called Prinz-Albrecht-Palais. An adjacent street off Wilhelmstraße laid out in 1891 was named Prinz-Albrecht-Straße. After the Nazi Machtergreifung it became notorious as the seat of the Gestapo and the Reichsführer-SS.

The Prinz-Albrecht-Palais itself from 1934 served as the headquarters of the SS Sicherheitsdienst under Reinhard Heydrich, from 1939 the Reichssicherheitshauptamt. In 1944 the building was heavily damaged by air raids and finally razed to the ground in 1955, leaving the foundations and cellars exposed to the open air. They remain so today, and are used as part of the Topography of Terror project.

October 4, 1289; Birth of King Louis X of France and Navarre

Tags

Clementia of Hungary, Enguerrand de Marigny, Jean I of France and Navarre, Jews, Louis X of France and Navarre, Margaret of Burgundy, Philip IV of Feance, Slavery, Tour de Nesle Affair

Louis X (October 4, 1289 – June 5, 1316), called the Quarrelsome, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn, was King of France from 1314 to 1316 and King of Navarre as Louis I from 1305 until his death in 1316.

His short reign in France was marked by tensions with the nobility, due to fiscal and centralization reforms initiated by Enguerrand de Marigny, the Grand Chamberlain of France, under the reign of his father. Louis’ uncle—Charles of Valois, leader of the feudalist party—managed to convince the king to execute Enguerrand de Marigny.

Louis was born in Paris, the eldest son of Philippe IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. He inherited the kingdom of Navarre on the death of his mother, on April 4, 1305, later being crowned October 1, 1307. On September 21, 1305, at age 15, he married Margaret of Burgundy and they had a daughter, Joan. Louis was known as “the Quarreler” as the result of the tensions prevailing throughout his reigns.

In 1305, Louis married Margaret of Burgundy. Margaret was a member of the ducal House of Burgundy, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. She was the second daughter of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (1248–1306) and Agnes of France (1260–1327), the youngest daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.

Louis and Margaret had a daughter, who became Queen Joan II of Navarre.

Both Louis and Margaret became involved in the Tour de Nesle affair towards the end of the reign of Philippe IV. In 1314, Margaret, along with Blanche of Burgundy the wife of the future King Charles IV the Fair, was the daughter of Count Otto IV of Burgundy and Countess Mahaut of Artois, and Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, the eldest daughter and heiress of Count Otto IV of Burgundy and Mahaut, Countess of Artoi, (sister of the aforementioned Blanche of Burgundy) — the wife of the future King Philippe V, — were arrested on charges of infidelity.

Margaret and Blanche were both tried before the French parliament later that year and found guilty. Their alleged lovers were executed, and the women had their hair shorn and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Philippe stood by his wife Joan, who was ultimately found innocent and released. Margaret was later convicted of adultery, was imprisoned in Château Gaillard, and although technically became Queen Consort of France and Navarre, she was eventually strangled to death.

Blanche was imprisoned and not released even after also becoming queen, when her husband became King Charles IV. Blanche was released and her marriage was annulled when she was moved to the coast of Normandy. The date and place of her death are unknown; the mere fact that she died was simply mentioned on the occasion of her husband’s third marriage in April 1326.

On the death of his father, King Philippe IV, in 1314, Louis became King of France. Margaret of Burgundy, the imprisoned Queen of France died on August 14, 1315 and Louis remarried five days later, on August 19, to Clementia of Hungary, the daughter of Charles Martel of Anjou and the niece of Louis’ own uncle and close advisor, Charles of Valois. Charles Martel was married to Clemence of Austria, a daughter of King Rudolph I of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenberg. She was a member of the House of Habsburg. Both of her parents died during her early childhood, and Mary of Hungary, Clementia’s grandmother, raised her. The family claimed Hungary through Mary, and so although Clementia was born and grew up in Naples, she was considered a Hungarian princess.

Louis X and Clementia were crowned at Reims in August 1315.

Marriage and issue

Clementia gave birth to the future Jean I of France five months after the king’s death. The infant Jean’s death a few days later led to a disputed succession. With an unknown woman, Louis had a daughter, Eudeline, who joined the Order of St. Claire and became the abbess of the Franciscan nuns of Paris, 1334-1339.

Louis X was king of Navarre for eleven years and King of France for less than two years. He abolished slavery, but his reign was dominated by continual feuding with the noble factions within the kingdom, and major reforms designed to increase royal revenues, such as the freeing of the French serfs and the readmittance of the Jews.

Regional leagues

By the end of Philippe IV’s reign opposition to the fiscal reforms was growing. With Philippe’s death and the accession of Louis, this opposition rapidly developed in more open revolt, some authors citing Louis’ relative youth as one of the reasons behind the timing of the rebellions. Leagues of regional nobles began to form around the country, demanding changes. Charles of Valois, the king’s uncle, took advantage of this movement to turn against his old enemy, Philippe IV’s former minister and chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny, and convinced Louis to bring corruption charges against him.

When these failed, Charles then convinced Louis to bring sorcery charges against him instead, which proved more effective and led to de Marigny’s execution at Vincennes in April 1315. Other former ministers were similarly prosecuted. This, combined with the halting of Philippe IV’s reforms, the issuing of numerous charters of rights and a reversion to more traditional rule, largely assuaged the regional leagues.

Abolition of slavery and serfdom

In 1315, Louis X issued an edict effectively abolishing slavery within the Kingdom of France, having proclaimed that “France signifies freedom”, that “as soon as a slave breathes the air of France, he breathes freedom” and therefore that any slave setting foot on French soil should be freed. This prompted subsequent governments to circumscribe slavery in the overseas colonies.

Readmittance of Jews

Louis was also responsible for a key shift in policy towards the Jews. In 1306, his father, Philippe IV, had expelled the Jewish minority from across France, a “shattering” event for most of these communities. Louis began to reconsider this policy, motivated by the additional revenues that might be forthcoming to the Crown if the Jews were allowed to return. Accordingly, Louis issued a charter in 1315, readmitting the Jews subject to various conditions.

The Jews would only be admitted back into France for twelve years, after which the agreement might be terminated; Jews were to wear an armband at all times; Jews could only live in those areas where there had been Jewish communities previously; Jews were initially to be forbidden from usury. This was the first time that French Jews had been covered by such a charter, and Louis was careful to justify his decision with reference to the policies of his ancestor Saint Louis IX, the position of Pope Clement V and an argument that the people of France had demanded a return of the Jews. The result was a much weakened Jewish community that depended directly upon the King for their right of abode and protection.

Death and legacy

Louis was a keen player of jeu de paume, or real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris “around the end of the 13th century”. In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.

In June 1316 at Vincennes, following a particularly exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there were also suspicions of poisoning. Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis is history’s first tennis player known by name. He and his second wife Clementia are interred in Saint Denis Basilica.

Louis’ second wife Clementia was pregnant at the time of his death, leaving the succession in doubt. A son would have primacy over Louis’ daughter, Joan. A daughter, however, would have a weaker claim to the throne, and would need to compete with Joan’s own claims – although suspicions hung over Joan’s parentage following the scandal in 1314. As a result, Louis’ brother Philippe was appointed regent for the five months remaining until the birth of his brother’s child, Jean I, who lived only five days. Philip then succeeded in pressing his claims to the crowns of France and Navarre.

All de jure monarchs of Navarre from 1328 onwards were descended from Louis through his daughter, Joan, including Jeanne d’Albret, the mother of Henri IV of France, and therefore the entire royal House of Bourbon.